


Biology

by JanitorBot



Series: XZero Week 2020 [7]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, And went on a 30 min TEDTalk of how much they hate it, Because my friends hate it, Drabble, High School AU, Human AU, Illustrations, M/M, The hate was inspirational
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22805707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanitorBot/pseuds/JanitorBot
Summary: Oh the joys of high school and hormone-induced bullshit, as Blues would sarcastically say.
Relationships: X/Zero (Rockman)
Series: XZero Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637977
Comments: 16
Kudos: 82





	Biology

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really an extreme AU person and I'm neutral towards Omegaverse.  
> But I know a friend who would be so, so pissed off because I wrote this and I want to witness the resulting, glorious rage.  
> XZero Week Bonus Free Prompt

Not even ten minutes into lunch and X is surrounded by suffering.

“Why. Is being a girl. So hard.” Palette groans, clutching her belly as if someone shot her. On her desk, her fist tightens until her fingers turn white. She slams the surface twice as another stab of pain shoots through her.

Alia pats Palette’s back sympathetically. “I have Tylenol. Do you want some?”

“I took some earlier,” moans Palette. “My cramps are so much worse this time. Why? Why am I like this? Alia, tell me. You’re smart. What’s the evolutionary benefit of dealing with this that our biology decided it’d be a good idea to keep this.”

"You didn't have sex, which means you don't want to have a kid. It's your body's way of killing its own uterus so you won't have a baby," Layer explains helpfully. 

“Eh, maybe you don’t have enough iron in your diet? Drink more water?” Alia offers eloquently.

Palette hisses at the unsatisfying answers.

X, who’s sitting at the other side of the classroom, watches the exchange briefly before paying attention back to his own respective predicament. He flipped his chair around earlier and now has his arms crossed over the top rail, leaning over to Zero in front of him. The blond has his head hidden in his arms on his desk, appearing like another tired student napping as per typical in high school if it weren’t for his hands gripping at the surface like he’s going to snap them in half. The nippy spring air coming through the window isn’t doing much.

“So, how are you doing on your end?” asks X.

“Fuck being an alpha,” Zero’s muffled voice creeps out.

“I figure,” sighs X. “On a scale from one to ten, how bad is it this time? Go to the gym after school?”

“I am somewhere around punching-Vava-if-he-breathes bad,” Zero growls through his sick mask.

“So slowly getting to the point of being unreasonably pissed off and wanting to fight everyone and everything.” Which would be a five to seven on the scale depending on severity. “No gym then," X huffs gently through his nose.

If Zero comes across another alpha who happens to be in rut at the ring, it doesn’t matter if they’re all going there for the same goal of working off tension. Chances are they'll end up beating each other in a pulp and make it worse.

“No, I should go. I’d rather beat down someone I don’t know than get in a fight with a team member in kendo. Or soccer. Or anyone from school.”

“Spar, not beat down.”

“Will end up being the latter, X.”

“Maybe. I’d rather you don’t beat down anyone at all.”

“…Me too,” grunts Zero, raising his head briefly to hit it against the desk mournfully.

Lunch passes too quickly and the classes afterwards too slow. X keeps shooting glances over his shoulder to Zero, who alternates between trying and failing to pay attention on the subject (probably for the sake to focus on something besides his body since his grades are fine), and keeping his head down to block out as many smells as possible. 

Time crawls to the final bell. Zero doesn’t make any move to leave, firmly staying statue still until everyone else leaves except X, patiently staying behind. .

“Is he okay?” Layer asks tentatively to X, the omega finally overcoming her shyness to inquire. X darts a glance to Zero, noticing the subtle tension across the blond’s shoulders.

“He smells…quiet,” she adds.

As in Zero isn’t giving off much of scent thanks to antinidorants. X shrugs as casually as he can. “It’s just a cold, don’t worry about it. He just needs to sit for a bit. You should go before Alia and Palette leaves.” The faster everyone else leaves the room, the better it is for Zero.

“Ah, okay,” the taller girl says timidly before scurrying off with her friends out the door, sending looks with poorly concealed longing back at Zero (which X recognizes easily since Zero receives such looks all the time).

“If it was that bad, you should have stayed at home,” sighs X in the following quiet. “Nothing’s wrong being in a rut.” It’s embarrassing but natural, something a lot of people goes though like bad acne. It’s mean to make fun of people for having ruts and heat. 

Not that it would stop jerks like Vava from calling it out later to break someone’s self-esteem, but Zero wouldn’t be the only one, let alone allow his confidence to waver because of something so petty. After all, it’s not like his rut came out of nowhere. The classroom was conspicuously empty throughout the day for a reason and not every single omega is mated.

Zero scoffs. “And deal with Forte when he’s on his too? We’d set the backyard on fire again.”

Fair enough.

“Can you walk or should I call a Huver? I’ll request for a beta driver.”

“I’ll be fine in a couple minutes. I’m not paying three thousand zenny for a flying car just to get back home.”

That is also fair.

X opens his mouth, about to offer going to the nurse’s office and see if there’s some extra pills only to remember that suppressants don’t work on Zero. In fact, they make him tired, which doesn’t help him maintain his self-control.

X purses his lips. “There’s always…y’know,” he trails off meaningfully.

“Never,” Zero swiftly replies with a dark glower, instantly understanding.

“Other people do it,” X shrugs, tone deliberately light. “There’s people who’d be happy to help you. Who’d be happy to be helped by you.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“And it would be over within a day – “

“I _know_ but if I’d wanted to _fuck_ someone to get it over with, I’d done it already, X!” Zero snarls, pushing himself from his seat so fast that is chair stutters backward harshly. Not that he cares because he’s looming over X, focusing only on X, the shadow of his red cap not diminishing the brilliance of his blue eyes as he holds the shorter boy’s gaze. As stereotypical it is, he reminds X of a predator, a hawk mentally marking a target and making plans to swoop and devour.

Except X is a beta, a stonewall to pheromones so he knows Zero’s simply in a state of aggression, not genuinely angry at him. Also, X _knows_ Zero; Zero’s self-control is wrought iron and the blond will never go so far to channel his hostility to the shorter boy.

Still, X had to stomp down an involuntary shiver. He forces himself to hold Zero’s glare with his sterner own, waiting for the other boy to come down. “Are you finished?” he asks politely.

Oh the joys of high school and hormone-induced bullshit, as Blues would sarcastically say.

Zero’s face turns red out of shame. He moves to the window, tugging down his mask and sticking his head out while taking deep breaths. When he comes back in, he mutters a soft, “Sorry. It’s just - I hate it. It doesn’t work.”

X blinks. “Wait, you tried it? I didn’t know that.” This is news to him.

“Key word: tried. This was like a month after you transferred here.”

Ah, so that’s why X didn’t know. They didn’t start becoming close friends until midway into the semester X entered. “I assume it went bad?”

“More like, we didn’t even get past kissing. It was so awkward.”

X frowns. “You partner wasn’t an omega in heat?”

“They were.”

Taken aback, X can only say, “…huh. That's interesting.”

Zero snorts. “I can guess what you’re thinking. An omega in heat and an alpha in rut. It _should_ have worked out.”

X splutters. “Technically you wouldn’t be thinking about it being awkward or not? I mean, I guess I wouldn’t know. I just hear stuff like…“

“Throw an alpha and an omega in a room and they’ll be going at it immediately?” Zero smirks self-deprecatingly. 

Now it’s X’s turn to be ashamed. “Sorry, I sound prejudiced, huh. I don’t know how these things go and it’s not like Blues’ experience doesn’t apply to every alpha. Now that I think about it, I don’t know how _your_ rut feels for you.”

“Annoying,” Zero says after a long moment, scowling into space. “Super annoying. All the smells are stronger and I get irritated over every little thing for no reason. I’m pissed off and the worst part is that I’m aware of it and I _still_ can’t put a cap on it. I’m hungry but food isn’t going to cut it,” he snorts tiredly at the end.

“That doesn’t sound too different from Blues’.”

“Real talk, all alphas’ ruts are more or less the same.” Zero drags a hand across his face. “If I wasn’t so picky with partners, this wouldn’t be an issue. I’m making this a lot more complicated than it should be.” 

“It’s good to have standards,” X concedes slowly. “But it’s not like you’re trying to bond with someone. It’s only for one season.”

Zero falls quiet and welp, that’s another surprise.

X stares at Zero harder. “…Are you searching for a bondmate?”

“I think I’m good to go,” Zero says, plucking his backpack off his chair. The dodge is so blatant that X almost laughs at how obvious it is until Zero, star player in the soccer team and _chuken_ in kendo matches, makes an uncharacteristic, ungraceful misstep towards the door, stumbling.

X is by the other boy’s side at an instant, hands raises to catch him or hold him steady or whatever needs to be done. He sees the feverish blush dusting Zero’s cheeks and without thinking, nudges Zero’s cap upwards with a hand to place it on his forehead.

Zero’s burning. Standing this close, X can feel the heat radiating from the alpha. Is this temperature normal for an alpha in rut? X isn’t sure.

“Let’s get you outside asap,” says X, pulling his hand away and taking a step back.

But then Zero’s taking a step forward. The taller boy chases, seizing X’s hand and putting it back on his face again, breathing contentedly. X stills, uncertain what he should do so he stands there, while Zero is – okay, so he’s nuzzling into X’s hand like a cat, that’s. Admittedly cute, but not like Zero at all.

Well. Alright then.

“Outside will be colder, come on,” X urges gently.

He tugs Zero towards the door, but Zero doesn’t let go so it ends up with Zero coming even _closer._ Zero falls more than enters into X’s personal space, their bodies pressing tightly against each other as two strong arms coil around X’s back in a sudden vice. X slams into Zero’s chest, air forced out of his lungs and he forgets to breathe as long tendrils of golden hair wash over his shoulder, tickling one side of his face.

X freezes. “Zero…?”

“You smell good,” Zero breathes, sounding so relieved it’s borderline orgasmic, like a man in a desert drinking cold water. X wasn’t sure whether to find this weird or tantalizing, but his entire body flushes like a switch so that answers it for him. 

X swallows. “Zero, I don’t give off any smells.” And the chances of X suddenly becoming an omega is nil no matter how popular the trope is in Roll’s soap operas.

“It’s great. You’re like a rock. I feel sane. I feel normal.”

 _I’m seriously doubting that_ , X wants to say. Also, a rock. Like, what? And X doesn’t know this Zero, but there are hands sliding up and down on his back, slow and firm and pleasant. X doesn’t want them to stop, but he should because Zero isn’t being himself; they both must have underestimated how bad this rut is if Zero’s coming onto X, who, again, is a freaking _beta._

“Zero, you’ll be more yourself once we’re outside,” X tries again around the pounding heart, trying to focus but it’s getting harder by the second with Zero nosing along up his neck and jaw and all. He’s murmuring something sweet and soft, too soft for X to properly hear what he’s saying. He catches bits of “no pheromones” and “quiet, so quiet.” Must be more alpha things.

Aw screw it.

X learned long time ago that if he can’t understand, he can at least be sympathetic. So he doesn’t get the whole heat, rut, pheromone and secondary gender shenanigans by virtue of being blessedly neutral to all of it - big deal. There's ten billion people in this world and they're all individuals. Though X is quite content being himself, for moments like these it would be helpful to be an omega just so Zero can –

X mentally slaps himself.

Nope. Bad thoughts. He can help Zero his own way too. If Zero just needs a hug to center himself, that’s easy.

So X hugs Zero’s back, one hand comfortingly patting the other boy’s back with a “there, there” motion. Zero holds him tighter and X looks up at the ceiling. He hopes the janitors don’t come in anytime soon. Then it'll get really awkward.

…And there’s a knee between X’s thighs. When did X's back meet the wall?

Something warm and hard grazes over his neck, teasingly gentle but sinking with intention. X gasps loudly.

Startled, Zero jumps back as if burned, crashing into another desk while clasping a hand over his mouth the same time X reaches for his neck. They stare at each other with wide eyes and hearts in their throats.

Finally: “You were going to bite me,” X says numbly.

“It wouldn’t have done anything,” Zero blurts out with pleading in his voice. Pleading for what, X doesn’t know. Forgiveness? Not that there’s anything to forgive if X was honest.

“You’re a beta. You don’t…you don’t have the gland.”

“Then _why_ were you going to bite me?” The billion zenny question.

For a split moment Zero’s face crumbles, making those same intense eyes earlier, which has X retrospectively examining what it meant every time Zero looked at him like that, before Zero turns on his heel. This time there’s no weak excuse. Zero dashes out of the room, pure tactical retreat.

X is left alone with a lot of heat and confusion, breathing hard in an air stuffy with implications he never considered until now.


End file.
